AGO 97057.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97057. DATE: October 28, 1997SUBJECT: 1997 Neb. Laws LB 256; Confidentiality of Information Pertaining to Undercover License Plates; Disclosure of Such Information in Audit Reports REQUESTED BY: John Breslow Nebraska Auditor of Public AccountsWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Dale A. Comer, Assistant Attorney General 1997 Neb. Laws LB 256 deals with the issuance of undercover license plates for motor vehicles operated by various law enforcement agencies and various other agencies of state and local government. The bill specifies what agencies are authorized to obtain the special license plates from the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the procedures for doing so. You state that you "have been asked to provide fairly basic information to the press on undercover license plates." In that regard, you then provided us with a draft of a document which lists the number of undercover plates issued to various state and local agencies in 1997 and in 1994. You pose two questions to us pertaining to the release of such information regarding undercover plates. 1. Release of Information Regarding Undercover Plates to the Press. Your first question pertains to the release of information regarding undercover license plates to the press. You ask, "[m]ay we provide information on the number of license plates, such as in our draft, to the press?" In response to that question, we believe that the pertinent portions of LB 256 prohibit the release of such information. 1997 Neb. Laws LB 256, § 1(4) provides, as is relevant: The Department of Motor Vehicles shall keep records pertaining to undercover license plates confidential, and such records shall not be subject to public disclosure. Any person who receives information pertaining to undercover license plates in the course of his or her employment and who discloses any such information to any unauthorized individual shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor. (Emphasis added). In Nebraska, in the absence of anything indicating to the contrary, statutory language should be given its plain and ordinary meaning, and when the words of a statute are plain and unambiguous, no interpretation is necessary to ascertain their meaning. Van Ackeren v. Nebraska State Board of Parole, 251 Neb. 477, 558 N.W.2d 48 (1997). It appears to us that the portion...